The present invention relates to switches of the type which are associated with burner control valves employed on gaseous fuel burners utilized in cooking appliances and particularly range top burners. Typically, range top burners are supplied from a fuel gas manifold with individual user operated control valves provided for selecting the desired burner to be operated for cooking.
In the more common cooking range constructions, the range top burner manifold extends along the front of the range top cabinet with the individual burner valves mounted therealong with the valve operating shaft extending through the cabinet and provided with a control knob for enabling the user to turn the burner valve on and off and to adjust the flow through the valve to produce the desired amount of flame at the burner. In such range top burner applications, it is commonplace to have a rotary cam provided on the burner valve shaft such that the cam is operative to close a switch upon rotation of the valve from the "OFF" position; and, typically the switch is operative to complete a circuit to energize a spark igniter for the burner. Thus, in the manufacture and assembly of the range, it is required to have a switch provided for each of the top burner valves and the attendant wiring associated therewith for connection to the igniter circuitry.
In the manufacture of ranges in high volume for the household cooking appliance market, it has been found somewhat cumbersome and costly to provide for individual mounting of the burner valve igniter switches and to provide for individual wire terminal connections for each of the burner valve switches during the assembly operations for the range.
In addition, the individual burner valve switches employed in the typical household cooking range top are susceptible to flooding with liquified foodstuffs from boil-overs and spillage. This flooding of the switches has caused leakage of the liquified matter into the switch and has caused corrosion and failure of the switch contacts in service. Therefore, it has been desired to provide not only a simplified way or means of assembling and wiring top burner valve switches, but it has also been desired to improve the resistance of such switches to boil-over and spillage.